We are witnessing an unprecedented shift of power from the states to the Federal government, and increasing levels of disquiet about this situation from the states and the American people. In order to restore the appropriate balance of power between the states and the federal government, ALEC is launching “Restore the Balance: An Initiative to Restore Federalism in America.” This Initiative will focus on advancing ALEC’s guiding principles of limited government and federalism by providing state legislators model legislation for their states and model resolutions for petitioning the U.S. Congress that will help to protect their states’ Tenth Amendment rights. Our goal is to restore our founding fathers’ intent that the states would enjoy co-equal status with the federal government.

ALEC’s Restoring the Balance of Power contains 13 proposals for state legislators to return sovereignty to the states. We are witnessing an unprecedented power grab from Washington, D.C. as they take more and more decision-making authority from state and local governments.

With federal government overreach at an all-time high, now is the time for state lawmakers to take back control of issues that should be dealt with at the state and local level. The recent failures of Obamacare should serve as proof to the American people that we are poorly served by an all-powerful centralized government.

ALEC’s Article V Handbook details how state legislators can call for a constitutional convention to enact important reforms like a Balanced Budget Amendment. Our nation is trillions of dollars in debt without a credible plan to stop spending. The battle in Congress has escalated to a point where politics outweighs the cost of our economic future, and there is little hope our nation’s leaders will make the tough choices that need to be made in order to reign in our debt and revive our economy. Fortunately, there is a solution outside of Congress—a solution that Professor Rob Natelson outlines in this Handbook.

Our Founders knew the importance of checks and balances. In the United States Constitution, they outlined one of the most important roles states have in keeping the federal government in check. Under Article V, states are granted the right to require Congress to call a convention of the states, during which states can propose amendments to the Constitution.